Zhonghua Men

After visiting the Memorial Nanjing Massacre, continued with my day Nanjing Zhonghua Gate, Zhonghua Men history back almost 600 years ago, at the time of China’s dynasties, including in Nanjing at the time of Ming Dynasty.

Precisely, enjoy it to learn more about the history of Nanjing.
Flag bearing the name of the dynasty “Ming”
Now considered one of the most beautiful cities in the country with its 5.3 million inhabitants, during its long history it was capital several times.

In fact, the Nanking region has been inhabited for over 5000 years. But from the 5th century BC it was the strategic conflict in many Warring States period, and finally found stability with the advent of the victorious Qin Dynasty (3rd century BC J. – C.) But the sixth century saw the decline after calamities and peasant revolts. While Xi’an is the capital of the empire, Nanjing was razed and sees its historical heritage destroyed.

Until 1356, when a peasant revolt led by Zhu Yuanzhang overthrew the Mongol Yuan Dynasty, while capturing Nanjing, Beijing and 12 years later. Zhu Yuanzhang, alias Hongwu, is established then the first emperor of the Ming Dynasty, and its capital is Nanjing that will provide immediately a huge palace and huge ramparts.
The glory of Nanjing lasted until 1420, when the third Ming emperor, Yongle, transferred the capital to Beijing

It will then wait for the 19th and 20th centuries to see new Nanjing prominently in the history of China. Instead of signing “unequal treaties” in 1842 at the end of the Opium Wars which will formally ceded Hong Kong to the British theater Taiping Rebellion and their massacre by the Qing after their capital, and , in the 20th century, the capital of the Republic of China, besieged and massacred by the Japanese in 1937, the capital of the Kuomintang from 1928 to 1937 and from 1945 to 1949, she was finally “liberated” by the Communists took power in all countries.

Pfffiou! A destiny rather stormy for this city that has undergone many changes. Fortunately, it has preserved the heritage of its heyday in the Ming Dynasty.
North Entrance Gate Zhonghua
This heritage, for its part, the most impressive, is found in the walls of the Ming City, which are simply the longest ever built in the world: 33 km, two thirds of which are still standing.
And punctuating the walls, there are no fewer than 13 gates still remaining, the most important are the Door Centre (Zhongyang Men) north of the city, and the Zhonghua Gate (Zhonghua Men) located it at the Southern . It is she that I visited. (Attention elsewhere, entrance fee, 15 yuan, 10 yuan for students)